Forum

Here is actually a pretty concise summary of the show by a poster on the History Channel's website forum:

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there reasonable1. I would like to invite you to rethink your position. I am a Bible believing Christian who is oppossed to the usual presentation of Biblical stories as laughably false and set out to "prove" the Bible wrong via science. They usually just go to the opposite extreme and claim we are wrong in our beliefs without supplying the supporting facts they accuse us of not having. They try to make us appear as immature, fanciful, ignorant people whose wishful thinking and unscientific approach to the Bible makes us less than believeable. I thought that the programs I saw today did not do that this time. In fact by watching these programs with an open mind for new information, in addition tomy religious beliefs, I think I learned a whole new truth about the nation of Israel that is to be upheld and be proud of. The presentation of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon and Saul as Military Leaders was great new information. The program showed how and why military schools refer back to these battles as strategies to be copied and used today. They lended credibility to the existence of each of these people and the biblical roles they played. This time no one was out to prove that Moses didn't exist or that Abraham was a figment of some story writers' imagination. The notion that the Israelites were not slaves but paid workers still matches what the Bible actually says depending on the interpretation of a single Hebrew word as the show explained and I think they are right. It gives Israel much more pride as a people and seems to be more realistic that they guarded the northern border of Egypt in Goshen from invaders. Once they got too large in number the Pharoh was afraid of them. If Israel chose to turn on Egypt in war they were already in perfect position to attack and win, especially if they joined forces with a northern foe. So Seti attempted to employ the Israeli warriors as public works employees. Whether they were treated poorly or were fed well and given medical attention when needed as the show said is a matter of degrees. Who knows and how important is that really? The real point is that Moses led Gods people out of Egypt, he did perform the miracles credited to him and this show even basically admitted to these without argument. The Sea of Reeds has long been known to be the probable water source they crossed and their explanation of how the water parted made perfect sense and included the act of God bringing the eastern winds to part the water and the program allowed for the cloud of fire that stopped the Egyptian army. It wonderfully explained the chariots problems and why. Then the program showed how Moses used his smarts and knowledge of the desert area in leading the Israeli people to the Sea of Reeds knowing the specific characteristic of the land and what he could do to Egypt to stop them. Fabulous military strategy! The idea of Moses not get back on the normal trade routes was also smart militarily because the Egyptian army could have easily caught up to Israel on their chariots had they done that. Yet Moses chose instead to go into the desert. Knowing he had to go to the promised land and claim it he would need a much bigger army than he currently had. Taking 40 years to purge the sinners and also raise a trained army was super smart, worked and fits Bible scripture. See, too many of us Christians think that the question is one of my way or no way. We don't allow for some things being true at the same time. Nothing is wrong with Moses' going up Mount Sinai, coming down with the Ten Commandments, seeing the sinning and idols and insisting on repentence and taking 40 years to cleanse the people and also raise and train an army to conquer the lands they had been promised by God. God does help those that help themselves. While that's not a scripture it is a trueism. He does expect us to do our part and he did give Moses and Joshua and others instructions on exterminating the Canaanites and other peoples in the land. So you see, the programs today weren't the usual Bible-bashing, Jew hating, Christian slamming programs we normally are subjected to. I think they presented some new ideas that we can consider with an open mind that enlighten us to the military strategy behind the story and how Moses et al achieved what they did. The views are not mutually exclusive. I think the History Channel was responsible in their presentation of the stories while giving those of us who were really paying attention some new information to consider and appreciate. This didn't shake my faith at all, in fact, it strengthened my faith in the stories and the people involved. As for those who don't believe or have yet to decide, well, the Lord isn't done with them yet. I doubt these programs will sway anyone one way or the other. Those who start on one side will stay there, those on the other side will stay there. I like that I learned something new today. I hope that you will reconsider the programs shown today and I also hope I get to see them run again soon."